One thousand gifts challenge, weeks 4 & 5

Well, I had it going for three weeks in a row ... oh well.

65. More amazing weather. It really does seem like spring (well, summer) is here to stay. I hate cold weather, so this makes me incredibly happy.

66. Kennesaw RUF started ministry team interest meetings, and we've got students coming! Praise Jesus.

67. Being reminded of the basics of RUF/thankful for what it stands for.

66. Kennesaw's SABAC (Student Activities & Budget Advisory Committee) awarded RUF money so that we can scholarship students for RUF summer conference! (How amazing is that?! I've never heard of a school that does this.) We had one of our students go present to the committee and tell them about summer conference, why we go, what we learn, why it's good to take students, how it builds community, etc., and then we were awarded money.) This money greatly enables RUF to take more students and offer a reduced price to an awesome conference. We currently have 19 students signed up (and 2 more have said they're coming — they just have to register). I'm amazed and super excited.

67. On that note, it's less than 40 days until summer conference. Get me to the beach.

Our logo/t-shirt design for this year. I like it.

68. My grandmother celebrated another birthday this month! I am so thankful for her kindness, graciousness, and caring spirit.

69. Safety for our students over their spring break. Yes, it was a couple of weeks ago, and yeah, we had not one but two students end up with broken ankles (separate trips, separate incidents!), but it made me realize how fortunate we are to have all of them return back safely to Kennesaw.

70. Kiefer Sutherland being back on TV. (Is that shallow? Oh well. Anyone else watching Touch? I'm intrigued. And Jack Bauer is the man.)

71. Celebrating lots of birthdays this past month — not just my grandmother, but several of my students AND my boyfriend!

72. Traveling mercies to Birmingham (with bad weather), then to Jackson, then back to Birmingham, then back to Kennesaw — all in one weekend.

73. The reason I did all that traveling — to be part of one of my dear roommate's wedding! Two of my favorite people got married and I was incredibly blessed to be part of their wedding. Rob and Annalissa, it was a joy to be with y'all and to celebrate the Lord bringing y'all together.

The four of us lived together at State our senior year. I love y'all dearly!

74. Seeing and catching up with lots of dear friends at the wedding. Y'all are an incredible encouragement and blessing to me, and I miss y'all!

75. Having a free place to stay in Jackson — thanks Amy!

76. Being back in Mississippi for a bit. (It's not home, and I don't want to move back, but I do miss it and enjoy visiting.)

77. Stephen getting interviews/applications in with several companies. (Add him to your prayer list for jobs please!)

Team RUF Runners ready for the Atlanta Color Run: Jessie, Mallory, Lexi, me, Chelsea, Anna, Jen, & Kayla.

78. Getting to run in the Atlanta Color Run with some of Bible study girls and Jen! SO FUN. Memphis and Nashville friends — y'all gotta do the ones there in October. (And side note, those of who know me should realize that me agreeing to do a 5K is huge. Granted, I didn't get to run the whole thing due to lots of walkers/it being super crowded/strollers/a super narrow path for running, etc., but I found myself wanting to run more of it! What? Who am I?!) On another note — I'm still trying to wash the pink and blue out of my hair (six washes and it's still there!), so please forgive the random color streaks in my hair.

Jen, Kayla, me, Lexi, and Anna after the race!

79. The Lord watching over my aunt who had surgery to remove cancer this weekend. (Add her to prayer list too, please.)

80. Catching up with a couple of people via phone this week. (Thank y'all for bearing with me and my terrible phone skills.)

81. Spicy salsa (like "clear out your sinus cavities" spicy). Hit the spot this week.

82. Baking (Specifically this week, baking a cake for birthdays. Don't you love how it makes the house smell so good? Mmm.)

83. The fact that my fast from sweets/desserts is almost over. I'm so tempted to cave. I've forgotten what chocolate tastes like.

84. The apartment pool area staying open — as you can see from the photo, we can't swim in it yet (not that I'm big on that anyway), but catching the sunshine rays and getting some much-needed vitamin D? Yes please.

No water = they do not want us swimming yet

85. My not-so-little Honda Passport hit 189,000 miles today. Thankful that it's still running and doing well.

One thousand gifts

Three weeks in a row — woohoo!

44. My parents celebrated 29 years of marriage this week. I don't think I have to say anything else — that's pretty impressive. I'm thankful for them and for the godly example that they've been.

45. Veggies at the school cafeteria that aren't soaked in salt

46. Strawberries AND blueberries on sale this week at Kroger (side note: blueberries were my favorite snack as a kid. Mom used to stick a big bowl on them on the kitchen table and I'd finish them off — but oddly enough, I named my favorite doll "Strawberry," not "Blueberry")

47. Aloe (I got sunburned last week!)

48. Daffodils blooming on campus

50. Trees, flowers, grass, etc. blooming everywhere

51. Allergy medicine to help with all that blooming (today's pollen count is over 9,000! yuck!)

52. Ladies Bible study — the insight, encouragement, and fellowship it provides for me

53. A lit and safe pathway at the park for early evening runs

54. Grace (and a little bit of wisdom) in listening and participating in some hard conversations

55. Growing relationships with my girls

56. Not just knowing but seeing God at work in the lives of students

57. Hymns — thankful for them for lots of reasons, but here's two thoughts: 1. Glad I grew up in a church and a family where we sang them all the time 2. Glad my church, family, voice teacher, and choir teachers taught me the importance of memorizing the words — which all came back to me this weekend while singing a baby to sleep!

58. A long hike with good conversations, fellowship, and rain (and safety during the last two miles where we hiked back on the road to our car!)

59. The marriage conference at Midway Pres last weekend

60. Home cooked food at that conference — it's been a big fruit, oatmeal, cafeteria food, and cereal week, so it was especially exciting to get good food

61. The book of Deuteronomy — it's part of the RUF Bible reading program this month, and Chris is preaching through the Ten Commandments this semester. I haven't read it in a while ... and it's nice to be "rediscovering" it.

62. Finding a knee brace for my 90 year-old knees — and I can run (pretty well) while wearing it!

63. Red Gatorade (the not so sugary kind. I forgot the actual name)

64. Lots of glorious sunshine last week and this week

One Thousand Gifts Challenge, week 2

The One Thousand Gifts challenge continues:

21. My supporters. I got to send out newsletters this past week, and it's a joy and blessing to be able to thank God for each one of them as I fold, sign, and seal their letters. Words cannot express how incredibly grateful I am for each one of them.

22. Sharpie pens. My fav. I always keep a couple on hand, and I used them a lot this week for newsletter duty.

23. Friends who are kind enough to proofread my personal statement (for grad school) on super short notice and give me good feedback. (Thanks, Kyle, April, and Hannah!)

24. My alma mater — for many reason, but here's one unique one: Mississippi State plants a tree for every student (and faculty member) who dies before they finish school/while working at school. (They get permission from the family to do so, but the university pays for it and puts a plaque up under the tree.) I always thought that was really special, and it just adds to the beauty of the campus. Last week, my journalism adviser posted a photo of the one they planted for my friend Adam. It will look absolutely gorgeous in the fall.

The tree looks a little scrawny without leaves, so here's the plaque.

25. Yogurt. Yep, that simple.

26. Good conversations with friends — specifically Rebekah, Katy, April, & Amy in the last two weeks.

27. Being able to share a former struggle/hardship with someone (and trusting that part of the reason the Lord put me through it is to help and share with others).

28. Spring break. Being able to take a break.

29. Seeing Stephen for a whole weekend.

Final UT home game this season — and they won!

30. Traveling mercies while driving to Knoxville. The weather was pretty nasty, and I missed all of it.

31. Stephen fixing the messed up screws on my MacBook. (They weren't put in properly after I had my battery replaced, and it had been bothering me for months.)

32. A great church service in Knoxville last Sunday with a challenging message on forgiveness.

33. New brakes for my car, and the Goodyear guys who looked out for me and my safety.

34. RUF for doing such a wonderful job of loving its employees and taking great care of us. They have really displayed the love and character of Christ to me, and are incredibly patient and gracious.

35. Pandora while I work, cook, clean, and study.

36. Reading the chain e-mails in my intern class and seeing how the Lord is blessing our crew with jobs, entering seminary, marriages, and a call to a third year of the internship.

37. On that note, especially thankful for my crew of third year RUF interns. There's going to be a good number of us, and I'm really excited about serving with them for another year.

38. This sweet kid:

Don't worry — she's not mine.

39. The Gospel Coalition, specifically, its wonderful website with blogs, resources, and much more.

40. Having my parents and sister in town for a weekend, getting to hang out, eat, and explore.

41. Finding another ticket to The Color Run 5K so that Jen can join us.

42. The promise of 80 degree weather this week.

43. Sandals/flipflops — and being able to wear them again!

One thousand gifts challenge

So if you haven't read One Thousand Gifts, you really should. It's a NY Times Bestseller, an Amazon bestseller, and USA Today bestseller — but most importantly, the author is a Christian woman who clearly really loves Jesus and is committed to sharing joy, despite life's hardships. (And this book isn't all lovey-dovey — she's gone through some REALLY hard things in her life.) She has a great blog, and she's issued a challenge to her readers to list their blessings via blog once a week — totaling 1,000 for the year.

Obviously, I'm a little behind on the challenge (but apparently, you can start whenever, so I'm not really that behind) ... but better late than never, right? She has these great little banners that you're supposed to put on your site, but I can't get the image to show up on my blog — oh well. So, 1,000 blessings in a year means listing 20 per week ... wish me luck! Here's the list for this past two weeks:

1. Thankful for the ministry of NightLight Atlanta (and many other groups) working to end human trafficking in Atlanta, & glad I get to partner with them in a 40 Day Fast (I gave up sugar/sweets and fried food!)
2. Three of the Kennesaw RUF ladies are joining me in that fast — it is much easier to fast knowing that others are keeping you accountable!
3. Glad to be writing again — freelancing at World on Campus a little bit
4. The Green at Kennesaw's campus. We had an absolutely gorgeous day last week, and it brought hundreds of students outside to play.
5. Sweet friends who call and text to say hi
6. A precious note from Adam's sweet mom
7. Lots of blessings to write about in my spring RUF newsletter
8. E-mails from the office reminding me that summer conference is just around the corner (doesn't the beach and sunshine and good teaching sound wonderful?)
9. Getting to share about RUF with my church here in Kennesaw
10. Running twice without my knees hurting
11. Running a couple of times with my knees hurting — thankful that I have knees that still allow me to be active!
12. Fruit being on sale at Kroger (especially since I've given up desserts)
13. Finding my favorite gloves that have been missing for two weeks
14. E-mail. It's just a great invention.
15. Reduced fat Cheeze-Its. (They're still not good for you, but I am thankful for their deliciousness.)
16. The fact that mold hasn't come back to our apartment (after a long saga of deep cleaning, cutting holes in the walls and ceilings, finding the leak/problem, putting in new drywall, and repainting)_
17. The fact that I live in a nice complex with great repairmen who did all the work listed above. It would have been really bad if I had to do all that on my own.
18. StrangeBrew coffee (and the fact that they ship so I can have it every morning)
19. A weekend away in Townsend with Stephen and his mom
20. Valentines from Jake & Cole, and my parents

RUF Training

This week, I've been in Atlanta for my first week of training for my new job — being the RUF intern at MTSU. I'll be updating my blog with more information on my job and how you can get involved with the ministry, but just wanted to blog about a couple of things so I don't forget them.

Top four things I've learned (so far) this week:
1. Having people donate money is going to be hard and humbling experience. I have a hard time learning to accept and receive from people. I can give all day, whether it's time, work, service, whatever. I have a hard time receiving. I'm looking forward to the Lord changing my perspective and learning that because He's given, I need to learn to accept.

2. My fellow interns are a wonderful group of people. I am not a fan of shallow conversation (though I'm pretty good at it). I want to know what's really going on with you below the surface. If I can't get below the surface with someone, I really start to wonder what's going on or what's wrong. I've shared so much (and interns have shared with me) and already been challenged by my "pledge class" (as one of our teachers has nicknamed us). I look forward to what the Lord has in store for all of us.

3. I have generous friends, family, supporters and a church family. It has been a blessing to log in to the RUF staff portal and see that people have already donated to me (and I'm just getting started). I can't wait to see how the Lord continues to provide.

4. This summer and this job is going to be challenging. There's so much I could say about that, but it would take me entirely too long. I am really looking forward to this job and am always up for a challenge. I am looking forward to the Lord getting me out of my comfort zone and stretching me. I feel like I've been comfortable for far too long. This last semester was a stretching experience, and maybe the Lord was using that to prepare me for this coming semester — who knows? Either way, I'm excited to see what's in store.